1. Technical Field
The application generally describes a system and method for handling data in an electronic communication, and in particular the transmission and automatic utilization of a message attachment in an electronic message addressed to a mobile data communications device (“mobile device”).
2. Description of the Related Art
Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME), Pretty Good Privacy™ (PGP), and OpenPGP are exemplary standards for secure e-mail messages. For a secure e-mail message, the sender of the e-mail message may sign the message, encrypt the message, or both sign and encrypt the message. When a cryptographic message having a cryptographic attachment is received, display of the cryptographic attachment may not be automatic, but instead may be contingent on further action by the user. On a desktop system, for example, the further action may require the association of an external tool for viewing the cryptographic attachment, or saving the attachment to disk as a file. However, these actions available to a desktop user may not be available to a mobile device user, as the mobile device may be capable of performing only limited actions.
Known systems and methods of transferring e-mail to a mobile device may also prevent cryptographic attachments from reaching the mobile device. Mobile devices often receive data over a wireless network, and these wireless networks often have attachment limiting devices that may strip attachments to prevent large attachments from overflowing the capacity of the wireless network.